China
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is located in East Asia. The PRC is the worlds third-largest country by area (although there are disputes that America is larger). The PRC also boasts the largest population of any country in the world (of 1.3 billion people). China is ruled by the Communist Party of China (CPC, which also happens to be the worlds largest political party) under a single-party system. They are controversial communists, that some argue do not exactly comply with the marxist/communist ideas that they idolise. Human Rights The PRC's human right's have long been a controversial issue since the 1970's due to political unrest. The PRC have been criticized for ignoring the basic human guidelines laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A prime example of the China's 'underground' abuse of human rights is forced abortions and death upon birth, an action taken in connection with their 'one child' act. Although there is no official Chinese government documentation of this it has been reported numerous times both by victims and NGO's. The Relationship and History with Taiwan China and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China), maintain a fragile relationship, but still grow impatient with the diplomatic patchwork that has kept the island separate from the Communist mainland since 1949. After losing the civil war to Communist Chinese and fleeing to Taiwan in 1949, the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) leaders of the Republic of China regarded the Communist Chinese government as illegitimate, claiming the mainland as rightfully their own. Beijing, in turn, regards Taiwan as a renegade province, and has tried repeatedly to persuade the island to negotiate a return to the fold. The KMT returned to power in 2008 after being in opposition for eight years. During this time President Chen Shui-bian and his Democratic Progressive Party had engaged in policy that widely departed from the KMT, invigorating efforts to seek Taiwan's sovereignty. Current President Ma Ying-jeou takes a decidedly more conciliatory approach; shortly after taking office he declared a "diplomatic truce" with China. Since then, Taiwan's relations with the mainland have improved. Facts *Chinese Civilization is one of the few ancient civilizations to have its individual writing script. The Chinese language has over 20,000 characters. The average Chinese only learns about 5,000 of these in his lifetime. *Dashanpu in the Sichuan province of '''China '''has yielded over 1000 Dinosaur Fossils . Four Winged Feathered Dinosaurs called Theropods have been found; these are considered to be the missing link between dinosaurs and birds. *Child Emperor Pu-Yi was the last imperial ruler of China in the period 1908 -1912. Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty was the only female Emperor of China . *The Great Wall of China is also known as the "Ten Thousand Li Wall", one Li is equal to 500 meters. The wall is over 1500 miles in length. *Khubililai or Kublai Khan issued Silk Notes as currency . There was also a Jade currency . *Acupuncture treats illnesses with inserting sharp thin needles in various pressure spots, it originated over 5000 years ago from China. *The Chinese calendar is based on the Lunar Cycle . It is the oldest known calendar , originating in 2600 BC. It has twelve Zodiac signs. A complete cycle would take 60 years to complete. *Ice Cream was invented in China around 2000BC when the Chinese packed a soft milk and rice mixture in the snow. Category:Countries